Monday, March 25, 2013

March Group Custom drawings! :)

We will be drawing Groups very shortly for March 2013 Group
Custom slots! :) Even if you are
experienced with our Group Custom process please read through this post as
there are some big changes this month!

*If you are new to twinkie tush, welcome! Please note that this is not the only way to
purchase one of our diapers. ;) Read
this page for lots of basic twinkie tush information!

Additionally please note that this process is as complex as
it is only in order to meet the needs of customers, both new and
returning. It is designed to be fair, and
we feel that with the latest changes, outlined below, it will be more enjoyable
for everyone!

The major change for the month is that we will not be
posting an entry thread on facebook! No
need to be at our FB page at a specific time and rush to get your entry in! Only an email is required this month, and it
can be sent at any time over the course of 3 days! *We strongly recommend sending it on the
early side so that you can confirm with your group(s) that all entries have
been submitted, with the process being so different this time around.

So here’s what you need to do to enter your group:

Once we open for entries (this month the entry timeframe will
be the wee hours of Wednesday March 27th through midnight eastern on
Friday March 29th), please send an email to groupcustoms@twinkietush.com.
The email subject must read something like “March Group Custom Entry: Team Name
(eg The flying whizbees)”. Your team name and the words "March Entry" or "March Group Custom Entry" must be included in the subject line
of the email and all Group members must be cc'ed on this email.

The email must contain a link to a google spreadsheet or an
attached Excel spreadsheet (please do not C&P in the body of the email)
containing the following information for each Group member:

If any of those elements are missing (no team name in
subject, any info missing from the spreadsheet, missing team member cc's, etc.)
your Group will not be eligible to obtain the slot. (This is just to keep
things fair.) We recommend reviewing
your spreadsheets before sending them in to double-check that everything is
present.

*Please do not write “TBD” for your sizing, finishing style
or cv/obv preference unless you want me to decide for
you! :)

Once the entry time has expired, we will review all
information and announce the eligible Groups for the month. That list will be
posted Saturday March 30th by noon eastern. We will then hold drawings from 2 lists as
follows:

List 1: Every team that has entered for at least 3 months,
including the current month, will be placed on this list.

* Each team in this drawing will receive one entry slot for
each month they've entered. That means if you've entered for 3 months including
the current month, your team is given 3 entries. So for example if there are 5
eligible teams for this drawing and they all have entered for 3 months, with
the exception of teams Abby and Darkside who have each entered 4 times, the
entry list would look like this:

1 - team Abby

2 - team Abby

3 - team Abby

4 - team Abby

5 - team Boyish stripes

6 - team Boyish stripes

7 - team Boyish stripes

8 - team Cat Lovers

9 - team Cat Lovers

10 - team Cat Lovers

11 - team Darkside

12 - team Darkside

13 - team Darkside

14 - team Darkside

15 - team Elliot

16 - team Elliot

17 - team Elliot

List 2: Every team who successfully submitted their
information in full will be placed on this list.

* For this list, all teams receive 1 entry slot regardless
of the number of months they've entered, giving an equal chance to all who are
enter whether they are brand new or have been entering for several months.

Please note that even an attempted entry counts when
tallying your Group's number of entries. In other words if your Group got the
email and FB comment in within the alloted time for a given month, it counts
even if some info was missing and your Group wasn't entered in the drawing(s).

Once we have our confirmed 2 lists, we will perform the
drawings via random.org. Once we have completed the drawings, we will post all
winning Groups on Facebook. Those lists
will be up Saturday evening between 8pm and 10pm EST.

The information below covers general Group Custom policies
to keep in mind as you are forming your Groups.
Please note that some of this has changed in recent months, specifically
payments for Group Custom diapers:

* If your Group is selected you will then receive a
confirmation email in response to the email you sent in. That email will contain a link to purchase
your Group Custom diapers. There will be
drop-down menu within the payment link for one size/little tush and teenie tush
options where applicable. It is
important that you choose the correct option based on your preference as stated
in your Group spreadsheet. Group members
will purchase their own diaper, including shipping, at this time. This means that Group leaders no longer have
to collect the payment for the diapers, a significant change from previous
months. However, Group leaders are still
required to handle the purchasing of the Group fabric and sending that in (or
having it sent directly from a vendor) to twinkie tush. Group members will have 1 full week from the
time they receive the payment link email to purchase their diapers. Any diapers not purchased within the week
timeframe will not be made and there will be no exceptions to this policy. We feel a week is plenty of time to complete
payment. :) As mentioned above, shipping
payments will now be included with the diaper purchase. You will not receive separate shipping
payment links. Please select your
shipping preference when purchasing your diaper! :)

*Anyone from the Group can email us, as long as they are
willing and able to serve as Group rep (the person who coordinates sending the
fabric to twinkie tush and communicates with me about velour preferences, etc.)
The Group rep is also responsible for forwarding information from us to the
Group as needed and assuring that the Group is aware of payment deadlines,
etc. Please do not email on behalf of
your Group unless you are willing to take on the Group rep responsibility. If we receive multiple emails from the same group
we will reply to the first (but for the sake of our record-keeping we would
appreciate if Groups just sent a single email! :)

*All members of the Group must be copied on the initial
email so that we can reach individual members if needed.

* If there is not sufficient turnout for a Group we reserve
the right to cancel production, at our discretion. We will flesh out this
policy as we see how the new process runs.

*Once we receive your Group’s fabric, assuming all diapers
have been purchased and/or the one week purchase period has expired, we will
put your diapers into production. Group
Custom diapers will ship 4-6 weeks after fabric is received (again, pending
payment).

*After securing the slot, the Group leader will send us (at
the Group's cost) adequate yardage of the chosen print fabric and all diapers
will be cut from that yardage (please see the fabric requirement chart at the
end of this blog post). All other
materials will of course be provided by twinkie tush. For members choosing obv we will use the
natural color as opposed to dyed obv, and for cv I will choose a color that
coordinates with your print. Only one
color of cv will be used per Group (in other words please don't designate
specific individual colors on your spreadsheet). It is fine for a Group rep to
share a Group's velour preference (eg "we'd really love aqua cv if it
works" or "we definitely don't want black" or "something
light as opposed to dark") but please note that final cv decisions will be
made by me. If you express a preference
for a color that doesn't work well with the print I will not proceed with it. However, if you say "we definitely don't
want X color" I will of course honor that.
I will always do my best to accommodate velour color requests! Any requests made by the Group must be shared
with us BEFORE we receive your fabric.
If you have not made a request by the time we receive your fabric, I
will choose the color that I feel works best with your print! :)

*Please do not ask for specific snap or thread colors as we
are not able to accommodate these requests.
Thank you for your understanding!

*All fabric submitted for Group Customs becomes property of
twinkie tush and may be used at our discretion (for stocking, drawings,
giveaways, charity events, or anything else we deem appropriate) once the Group
order is fulfilled.

- Please note
that we will price diapers made with remaining Group Custom fabric according to
the cost of the fabric (based within our current pricing structure). This is something that has been requested of
us by previous Groups and we recognize that it is the most fair way to handle
pricing.

* Group size can range from 5-15 people. Each Group member
will choose between a serged or turned diaper.
For Groups using woven fabrics all diapers will be turned. The price
will be $36 + shipping per each one size or little tush diaper and $28 +
shipping per each teenie tush diaper.
Please note that serged/turned and sizing preferences must be finalized
*prior* to entering your Groups. We will
make copies of Group spreadsheets via screenshot after winners are drawn and
all diapers will be made as dictated by the spreadsheet screenshot. If your Group secures a mid-month slot (ie
payment links will not be sent out for a couple of weeks) you may make changes
up until the day before payment links are sent (so the 14th of the month).

*Should a Group member leave a Group post-drawing, you may
replace that member at the Group’s discretion.
However you may not add Group members beyond the number who entered the
drawing. If a member is swapped after
screenshots have been taken, the new member’s diaper will be made according to
the original member’s specifications.
Please make sure to alert us to any changes in the member list by
sending an email to groupcustoms@twinkietush.com, ccing all accurate (including
new) members.

*For Groups pursuing twinkie tush night-nights: the fabric
requirement chart at the end of this post shows how much velour you will need
to send in to cover both inner and outer velours. The cost per person in that case will be $40
plus shipping. Should you prefer to only
send in outer velour fabric and have us supply your inner velour, the cost per
member will be $45 for cotton velour and $47 for bamboo velour. It is important that
you specify that preference in your Group spreadsheet so that we can set up
payment links accordingly if your Group wins a slot. Night-nights are only available in our one
size (OS) pattern.

*Please make sure to note that, as indicated on the chart below, special cutting needs must be directed to me before you send in your fabric. If you require any sort of special cutting at all (centered bum cuts, a fabric element right side up OTB, more floral OTB, etc.) that constitutes special cutting and will require more than the standard amount of fabric. We do our best to keep the fabric requirements low and reasonable so that you aren't spending extra money on extra fabric that we won't need. But that means that we can only work with what you send in and while we always try for amazing cuts, our focus is on fulfilling your group order with an appropriate buffer. If you are concerned about getting a specific cut of any kind it is important that you reach out to me so that I can tell you how much fabric we will need in order to make that happen. And of course if there are any questions about this at all please reach out to me at info@twinkietush.com! :)

*Again, all diapers will ship out to Group members 4-6 weeks
after we receive your fabric (or once the 1 week invoice period is completed,
assuming the fabric arrives before then).

We hope this new entry and payment process provides a
smooth, comfortable, and easy way for everyone to participate in twinkie tush
Group Customs! :) As always, please let
us know if you have any questions about any of this, and thank you so much!

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About Me

My name is Gretchen Gilpin and I am the creator, owner and chief operator of twinkie tush cloth diapers! My husband Mike and I work together to run twinkie tush, along with a growing team of employees! twinkie tush was named after our now almost 6 year old twins, M&D!